Idaho's Weekly Journal of Local & National Commentary Week
2815

Boise, ID – On July 1, 2007, the Idaho Statesman ran a
quiz entitled, “Getting to know the
Constitution,” and asked 20 questions, “How much do you know about the historic document
that established the United States government?”

Question 20 asked,
true or false: “The Constitution was written in
1787 and signed Sept. 17 of that year. It wasn’t until 1788, however, that
it was ratified by the nine necessary states.” Answer: “True.”

Buzz, wrong.

The U.S.
Constitution was never signed by its authors or anybody else.

In an essay
entitled, “No Treason: The Constitution of No
Authority (1870),” by Massachusetts lawyer Lysander Spooner
(1808-1887), he reveals what everybody of that period already knew: Unlike
the Declaration of Independence, nobody signed the U.S. Constitution and
thus, claimed Spooner, it was not contractually binding on either the
authors, their progeny, or anybody else.

The appearance of
printings of the Constitution in modern times which bear signatures of the
drafters of the document – an annotation, not an assertion of a contract --
does not affect Spooner’s point. Contracts are not binding upon the
signers’ progeny or those who didn’t sign it.